I'm getting sued :/

[Kenbo Slice]

7 months ago I was in a car accident, it was rainy and the streets were slippery and the person in front of me kept stopping and going and my car didn't stop in time and I ended up hitting her car. I know it's my fault and we got all that settled. I get a phone call this morning saying she's suing me because she got hurt...7 months later. Even my insurance lady said it was stupid.
Any advice guys?

Edit: The damage was also more to my car than hers, and I didn't even hit her very hard. My insurance lady also said that she had her doubts about the "doctor" the girl saw. Also I had a friend with me at the time of the accident, the girl was by herself. So I have a witness as well.

 

[aba1]

I am not the smartest as far as the law goes but couldn't you bring up the fact the case was closed and the matter settled and that if she was truely that injured it would have been brought up soon rather than so much later and that if it was so little of a injury that she didnt notice for 7 months that it probably shouldnt be enough charge you more over. I dunno seems logical to me but i could be speaking out my ass XD

 

[Proteus214]

Seek some professional legal advice as soon as you can. Chances are she got the idea to sue you from a lawyer or someone who is versed in law and is also very opportunistic. Talk to someone who knows what they are doing and hopefully their case against you will be pretty flimsy and you'll be able to fight it without much financial cost to you.

 

[artanis_neravar]

7 months ago I was in a car accident, it was rainy and the streets were slippery and the person in front of me kept stopping and going and my car didn't stop in time and I ended up hitting her car. I know it's my fault and we got all that settled. I get a phone call this morning saying she's suing me because she got hurt...7 months later. Even my insurance lady said it was stupid.
Any advice guys?

Edit: The damage was also more to my car than hers, and I didn't even hit her very hard. My insurance lady also said that she had her doubts about the "doctor" the girl saw. Also I had a friend with me at the time of the accident, the girl was by herself. So I have a witness as well.

Talk to a lawyer, best advice anyone can give you right now. A lawyer will be able to tell you how to proceed.

 

[Hungry Donner]

I'd ask your insurance provider if they feel you need a lawyer. If they feel you do take their advise - in a situation like this you need professional assistance, I'm not sure if the Escapist qualifies

 

[SiskoBlue]

Find out what she claims this injury is. Is she suing for medical treatment? Loss of income? Punitive damages (i.e. revenge for pain and suffering).

If it's for medical costs at the time she might well be in her rights. If it's ongoing medical costs that's a concern. But as someone said if it's taken 7 months for her to notice a problem then how can she be sure it's from the accident and not some other incident? And how bad could it be if it took that long to make a case against you?

If she claims she can't do certain things then you could be sneaky and film her because 9/10 in these cases they're lying AND stupid. But if she catches you, you could be done for harassment. It really depends on what she's suing for.

Get legal advice. There's millions of websites devoted to just this kind of thing.

 

[devotedsniper]

Hmm i'm going to take a single guess at what her injury will be and that its whiplash? I was in a car accident 2 years ago, had a brand new audi slam into the back of my 10yr old pug 106, few days later i had the insurance company bugging me to go to the docter to confirm im ok and i have whiplash so then they could take it further and get me compensation, took about 10 phone calls for them to get the answer no (and this is in the UK, since when did we claim compensation for something as minor as whiplash).

Point is it depends on what she's claiming, if she was badly hurt then she's well within her rights but if its something stupid like whiplash then i doubt she'd get far, and as you say you have a witness that can testify she kept stopping so chances are you don't have much to worry about so long the injury is minor.

 

[Scde2]

My family has had some issues with this regard. A couple of years ago my mom was sent a lawsuit letter claiming that she was libel for loss of income, medical expenses, etc. because she was the registered owner of a car that was involved in an accident driven by my brothers friend, who was also sent a letter for a court date. But the plaintiff's insurance company didn't want to take the case so she dropped it. There was another instance before that which I can barely remember, but it's the same thing where the plaintiff back down because his insurance company wouldn't back him in court.

Right now she sounds like she is trying to intimidate you. You're not really being sued unless you get an actual legal letter. But either way, ask your insurance company what to do and see if they will back you up, and try to get legal advice if you can.

 

[SilentCom]

Murder her, your problems will disappear. Just kidding, but it's probably a good idea to get some legal help. She is obviously just trying to get money from you.

 

[LT Cannibal 68]

as my good friend insanity wolf says: she hit you with car? HIT CAR WITH HER!!!!!

 

[Aurgelmir]

Seems to me like she wants to pay your legal fees, so let her. From what I can hear it doesn't seem like she has much of a case.

 

[Norendithas]

Murder her, your problems will disappear. Just kidding, but it's probably a good idea to get some legal help. She is obviously just trying to get money from you.

That was great, thank you.

But yes, while I also do not have any legal background, you should definitely contact a your insurance company and find out why she is suing you. After 7 months, who knows what could have caused her injury other than the crash?

 

[Limecake]

my father works with stuff like this all the time.

do you have pictures of the accident? chances are the police took at least basic photos this could help show the damage and if it's like you said it should help your case. there are also some factors like speed which may or may not be determined from photographs.

but a lawyer is the best first step here, even though her case seems silly it could turn bad quick. get a lawyer and he'll have the best next step for you

EDIT: I'd also like to point out that a lot of people 'faking' injury tend to stick to the neck or back injuries since they are difficult to determine. since you hit her from behind I'm willing to bet she's claiming whiplash, make sure you have your story straight about how fast you were going (I'm assuming you at least tried to slow down).